Noma wins top prize at San Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants awards

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Photos:World's 50 best restaurants: San Pellegrini awards

Winner: Noma (Denmark) – Copenhagen's Noma restaurant won top honors in the prestigious San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards, bumping last year's winner, Spain's El Celler de Can Roca, into second place.

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Photos:World's 50 best restaurants: San Pellegrini awards

Second place: El Celler de Can Roca (Spain) – The 2013 winner, an ultra-modern restaurant in the industrial town of Girona, is owned by three brothers who are known as jokers as well as clever cooks.

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Photos:World's 50 best restaurants: San Pellegrini awards

Third place: Osteria Francescana (Italy) – Chef Massimo Bottura has put the Italian town of Modena firmly on the dining map. His Osteria Francescana has won three Michelin stars.

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Photos:World's 50 best restaurants: San Pellegrini awards

Fourth place: Eleven Madison Park (New York) – Swiss chef Daniel Humm has helped this New York restaurant skyrocket, leaping into the competition's top 10 last year and holding firm in 2014.

Story highlights

San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards seen as Oscars of fine dining industry

Noma returns to top place, knocking last year's winner, Spain's El Celler de Can Roca, into second

Awards are now viewed by some as more influential than coveted Michelin stars

Get dialing for your reservation now: Noma in Copenhagen has been named the world's best restaurant at a ceremony revealing the planet's top 50 dining venues.

To raucous cheers, high fives, hugs and kisses, team Noma took to the stage in a packed London venue in jubilant scenes that wouldn't be out of place at the World Cup in Brazil later this year.

Noma's top honor in the prestigious San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards -- viewed as the Oscars of fine dining -- was the fourth win for minimalist Danish pioneer of foraged menus.

The award was presented late Monday at a ceremony in central London attended by some of the world's leading chefs.

"It's too (expletive deleted) crazy!" said Noma's head chef, Rene Redzepi, picking up the award. "Thank you for believing in us.

"In the last year (after the restaurant was awarded second place) my staff and I looked into each others' eyes and said 'let's just really really work hard.' We made a plan and said 'let's make this the best year we've ever had.'"